First off, the Stars came home from their very cold weekend trip in Canada with 2 points out of 4. Not too shabby.

The first game against the Oilers was a tad sad on our end. The Oilers took control of the game and made sure they kept it. The final ended up being 4-1, with James Neal getting the lone Stars goal. Barchie got into 2 fights and got a 10 minute misconduct. Landon Wilson got into a fight of his own and ended up hitting the ice pretty hard and got a rib injury. Thank goodness the Stars had already called up Chris Conner.

Sunday went much better for the Stars against the Canucks. It was an evenly matched game, I thought. Both teams played well, and both had a fair amount of chances. It ended up going to a shootout, and the Stars pulled the 2 points thanks to Marty and rookie James Neal, who got the winning shoot out goal.

Onto the best news of all, the Stars will in fact have a player in the All-Star game this year. That player is the wonderful Mike Modano! He is making his 7th All-Star appearance in his career. I couldn’t think of a better person on our team to get it. He is having a great season for being so “old”, having 13 goals and assists for 26 points, best for 4th on the team! You can see the rest of the roster here.

The YoungStars will be announced Friday, and they’d be crazy not to take Neal.

That makes for a great holiday season for Stars fans. The Stars have gone 4-0-1 in their last 5 games, 9 points they so desperately need.

The last game before the holidays, December 23rd against the Maple Leafs, was a beating for the Leafs. Only 4 Stars players did not register a point in the 8-2 win; Loui Eriksson, Toby Petersen, Brian Sutherby and Darryl Sydor. Even Marty Turco got into the action by getting an assist on Neal’s 3rd goal. Yes, Neals third goal, our little rookie got his first hat trick in his career that night. It was an extremely high scoring game (obviously) so here is the run down.

1st Period

James Neal (Trevor Daley, Jere Lehtinen)

Steve Ott (Mike Ribeiro, Fabian Brunnstrom)

Fabian Brunnstrom (Steve Ott, Stephane Robidas)

PPG Brad Richards (Stephane Robidas, Mike Modano)

2nd Period

Krystopher Barch (Landon Wilson, Trevor Daley)

Mike Ribeiro (Landon Wilson, Matt Niskanen)

James Neal (Nicklas Grossman, Jere Lehtinen)

Jason Blake (Dominic Moore, Tomas Kaberle)

3rd Period

Mikhail Grabovski (Andre Deveaux, Lee Stempniak)

PPG James Neal (Andrew Hutchinson, Marty Turco)

The three stars of the game were

James Neal

Stephane Robidas

Trevor Daley

Phew. Then 2 days after Christmas, the Stars took on division rivals Anaheim Ducks. It was a close game, having to be decided in overtime. Scoring was as follows

Saturday, the Stars headed to Nashville for their 3rd game against the Predators this season. Each team had won one so far, each win coming at home. The Stars one home win came in Fabian Brunnstrom’s debut, you know that one where he scored a hat trick.

Tobias Stephen got his 3rd start of the season, he had been 1-1 so far, his win coming against the Wild. He looked a bit nervous in the beginning of the game, but who wouldnt’ be when you’re hearing nonstop that the team thinks you’re unproven, and this is only the 3rd chance you’re being given to prove yourself? (We are not going to include those games he came in to relieve Marty, because that was just cruel the non-support he received.)

Joel Ward got the first goal of the night, just under 4 and a half minutes into the game. It was a nice move, I’ll give him that. He faked and Tobi fell for it, coming out of the net to try to grab the puck, only to have Ward skate by and put it into the empty net Tobi had left behind. J.P. Dumont and Dan Hamhuis got the assists. The first penalty was called with just over 6 minutes remaining inthe period, Rich Peverly with holding. The Stars continued with something they had used the night before against Detroit, which was having no D-men at the point. Instead, they had Richards and Modano covering the point. The second PP line consisted of mostly Swedes, since they have been some of our best players lately. The Stars just looked sloppy overall in the first period. There was a close call with 2 minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the first; Grossman tried to use the boards to get the puck behind the net towards Daley. Only it took a bad turn and headed straight for the net to a waiting Predators who shot it but Stephan’s glove and the goal post made the save to keep it 1-0.

Stephan seemed to really get more comfortable in the second period. He made one fantastic glove save 2 minutes into the second. A Predators slammed one towards the net, and Ralphie had to stop himself after starting the word scores in “he shoots he scores” before he realized that Tobias had made the save. The Preds took their second penalty of the night 6 minutes into the period, and sadly almost half the Stars PP was spent defending their own goal. They really need to get their PP turned around. I think Razor put it best that night when he said “You get the sense that someone will score on the Stars power play tonight. We’re not quite sure who or which team, but somebody might.” The Stars first penalty of the night belonged to Matt Niskanen who took a holding call. But J.P. Dumont took a hi-sticking penalty of his own so it was 4-on-4 for two minutes. There was some good that came of the second period. For one, the score remained 1-0 thanks to the tremendous play of Tobias Stephan. Chris Conner got a breakway of his own during the second, only to get knocked down before he could get a good shot off. “Ka-dingyding” as Razor put it. Barch got a good chance of his own, getting the puck past ex-Stars goalie Dan Ellis but having it go off the post and out.

The Stars were 1-11-1 when trailing after 40 minutes, compared to the Preds being 6-1 after leading after 40. And almost right out of the game, Chris Conner takes a tripping penalty less than a minute into the third. Luckily the Stars were able to kill it, and actually got some nice shots on Ellis during their PK. Nashville takes their final penalty of the night, Jerred Smithson with slashing right off the face-off. The Stars are 30th in road power play, going 3 for the last 50. Ouch. David Legwand makes it 2-0 Preds with a goal he shot five-hole right in Stephan’s face. Ward got his second of the night, getting in an empty netter with a minute and a half remaining in the game.

Between sloppy play and way too many giveaways, Tobias Stephan is who kept them in this game and he deserved a better fate. It would have been 5-0 had he not been as amazing as he was. But that is what happens when you have an exhausted team in front of you.

Why not, I have nothing else to do today. Might as well share the pain with all the other Stars fan out there. Liveblog will commense at 4:30, when the pregame starts.

First off, here is some good: 3 Stars players are currently on a point streak

Loui Eriksson is on a 4-game point streak, earning 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points

James Neal is on a 2-game point streak with 3 goals

Brad Richards is on a 3-game point streak with 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points

Yes, that is the only positive I can find right now. See y’all when we play Edmonton.

PRE-GAME

They mention that Sergei Zubov won’t be playing tonight, out with an undisclosed injury. Fantastic. He took that weird hit on the boards last game. He didn’t practice yesterday. They mention the trade, and Ludy says his stats tell him he’s somewhat of an offensive minded defenseman and is being brought in to possibly help the offense. Ugh. Just what we need. Razor says the Stars need offense, but they don’t. They need DECENT DEFENSE! This is our main failure this season. Get with the program people.

Crazy hair Ric Renner is holding a mask of Razor on himself. Wow. I forgot it’s Ralph and Razor night at the AAC night tonight. At least Ric Rinner understands it’s about defense. Why is it he’s the only one who seems to be on my side? The Stars players seem confident that they can work to get themselves into the playoffs. Good luck guys, seriously.

Mike Modano has been moved to the wing tonight with Brad Richards at center and Loui Eriksson as the other winger. Modano seems excited, so hopefully this is a good sign. He seems a little too happy…..I’m scared.

And now they go to Crazy hair who is with Tippett, and Crazy Hair managed to get him to laugh. Holy shit. He talks about how Marty needs to play like a top player. Which is so true. Crazy hair mentions that when both he and Tippett wear blue they are undefeated. Oi. Don’t say shit like that.

And here we go…..ugh.

1ST PERIOD

20:00: Richards, Modano and Eriksson make up the opening line and Oilers start with the faceoff win.

19:30: They have Robi back with Grossman I notice as Grossman lets the puck go through his legs.

19:00: Second line is out now, Ribeiro with Avery and Neal. Sydor and Daley on the blueline.

17:50: Janik is out with Niskanen. Petersen, Conner and Parrish is the third line tonight.

17:10: 4th line is out. Barchie and Wilson with Ribeiro, since we really only have 3 centers tonight with Mo on the wing. Brunnstrom hasn’t been out yet…so I wonder where they plan on putting him since he’s on the list to play tonight.

We got a point, which is still an improvement, especially with Brenden Morrow being out. And they mentioned that nonstop, everytime moment they could fit it in, they would. Just another stab to the gut everytime, as well. In the pre-game show, they mentioned that the Stars are the first team to have 2 players get a hat trick in their team debut, go us! Also, Dave Tippett looked very unhappy during his interview.

The stars came out in the first period and seemed to be taking another step in the right direction. Hiller got his first start against the Stars, since Giguere was pulled 3 of the last 9 starts against the Stars. Usually, it’s the Ducks that get in penalty trouble, but it was even during the first period. Avery took a penalty, then got an extra 2 minutes due to his yapper. And this is what got the Ducks their first goal, the Stars broke down in front of their own net and it was only too easy for Corey Perry to get one past Turco. And 2 seconds later, Barch and Parros got into it, maybe Barch insulted his mullet and pornstache. I guess we’ll never know. Razor found it funny, saying that May must feel like Barch is cheating on him considering they are the usual pair we see fighting when they see each other. Landon Wilson got his first start with the Stars, and got on the score sheet by taking a penaly for hooking, which the Stars were able to kill. I noticed during this first period that Brunnstrom is really starting to gel with the team. He looks a lot more comfortable and confident in his skills at the NHL level. Avery got into a fight of his own 12 minutes in, when him and Kunitz went. Avery is looking more like his old self, the guy we signed, minus the stick-in-the-face waving. Not to be left out, Otter also invited Montador into a fight, and Tippett looked livid on the bench. A fun side note, the Stars lead the NHL in game misconducts. At least we’re number 1 in something. Near the end of the period, the Stars looked like they finally got their shit together, and were going to start the 2nd period with a power play due to Moen taking an elbowing penalty with under a minute left in the first.

The Stars got a 5-on-3 attempt before Moen’s penalty expired, and right before it ended, Eriksson took an interference penalty. Ribeiro got a nice breakaway during a 4-on-4 but Hiller got there to stop it. Hiller looked really good against us, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him in net the next 4 times we play the Ducks. Avery showed himself to be useful by drawing a penalty on Chris Pronger, that is what I like to see. 10 minutes into the 2nd period, the Stars tied it up with a fantastic goal from Loui Eriksson on a feed from Trevor Daley. Marty Turco also got an assist on the play. At one point when the Ducks were on the attack, Marty began scrambling and accidently knocked the net off and the Ducks shoot the puck in. The NHL made the right call *coughforoncecough* and called No Goal. At the end of the 2nd period, Chris Pronger takes a second penalty, which means the Stars began the 3rd period on the power play.

38 seconds into the third period, Niedermeyer took a penalty, which gave the Stars a long 5-on-3, but were unable to get anything past Hiller. The Stars stayed on it. They looked a lot more trusting, and much more like themselves. Despite not being able to get a 2nd puck in the Ducks net, they also prevented the Ducks from getting another goal themselves. This continued into overtime and resulted in the Stars going to another shootout.

Brad Richards started, speeding up the middle and getting it past Hiller

Corey Perry went wide, and shot it five-hole to tie it up 1-1

Sergei Zubov got stopped by Hiller

Teemu Selanne, the Finnish Flash, was unable to flash it past Turco to keep it tied

Mike Ribeiro tried to go through his legs again, only the puck got a little away from him and Hiller was able to make a save

Ryan Getzlaf managed to get it past Turco, to give the Ducks a 2-1 win.

Despite the loss, the Stars played a good game. But I don’t trust it, I’ve seen this far too much.

The Stars are on the road the next two games, playing Philadelphia tomorrow evening. They recalled Chris Conner to try to give them more depth with Morrow, Lehtinen and Lundqvist out.

I’m sure we were the last team Minnesota expected to lose to. The Wild remained the one team yet to lose in regulation, and were 100% on the penalty kill. On the other side, we were off to a God awful start, our little rookie Stephan was getting his 2nd NHL career start. Surely this would be an easy win for the Wild? They thought wrong.

The Stars got their presence and plan to win out there early, with Brenden Morrow getting a goal from Ribeiro and Eriksson just 13 seconds into the game. Bergeron the Wild countered exactly 6 minutes later with a power play goal from Belanger and Johnsson. But the Stars weren’t done, getting 2 more goals before the first period ended. Steve Ott getting the first from Richards and Avery and Richards cashing in himself from Fistric and Barch.

After getting the lead, the Stars went back to what they were known for, good defense. They showed it in the first period as well, but worked to protect their lead and limit the Wild’s scoring chances. Then 12 minutes into the second period, the Stars upped their lead to 3 and rid Minnesota of their perfect penalty kill thanks to Niskanen’s goal from Avery. After Niskanen’s goal, the Wild didn’t help themselves by taking an abuse of the officials minor, I guess they weren’t happy with their perfect PK gone. The second period wasn’t all good, Mark Fistric took a puck to the chest and had to leave the game. I, personally, freaked out. I do not take well to any of the Stars players getting injured. Luckily, he returned to finish the game in the third period.

The Stars continued to build on what they had accomplished in the game. However, after Modano took a 2 minute minor for tripping, the Wild managed to get a second goal past Stephan on the power play; a goal from Brunette (that deflected off one of our defensemen) with Johnsson and Miettinen getting the assists. That would the end of the scoring for tonight. The Wild gave it a good shot, but the Stars weren’t having it. They used their bodies to protect the net and to help our rookie get his first NHL career win. Brenden especially, taking a puck to face and also scaring the crap out of me. Stephan made some fantastic saves.

While I was excited to see Miettinen return to Dallas, a bit into the game we changed our minds. Mittens had some real Finn on Swede hate going on, hitting Grossman, then Eriksson a little too much for my liking. Though with Eriksson, it might’ve been part Swede hate part “YOU WILL NEVER BE THE WRAPPER!” (Seeing that the Peanut Butter Cup line of Morrow-Ribeiro-Miettinen last season had Miettinen as the wrapper.) Either way, not cool Mittens.

The other negative of the game was the annoying shit sitting next to us who felt the need to boo Robidas. Also, not cool. What is cool? Seeing that the Hooter’s ad in my program was signed by Ribbons. What could be more amusing?

I forgot to mention that last night at the game, we met up with the girls who run Stop Hitting Robidas! I decided at about 2am last night to go to practice, where I happily met up with them again.

A rare outting of the Russian

According to the Stars website, practice was supposed to start at noon, but when I got there just a little after, it was already over and players were slowly getting off the ice. I did manage to see Russian skating, who apparently took part in practice today. He was laughing, which means somewhere a lot of bunnies died. Most of the team still on the ice looked in good spirits, despite how the season has started. Morrow I guess officially ended the practice by knocking the goal over, laughing while doing it. Neal and Stu then took turns trying to shoot the puck in the fallen net from the other side of the ice.

After practice, most of the players came out to sign autographs. I will say, Barchie has quite possibly the most annoying car alarm in the universe, sorry Barchie. Myra also overheard Daley telling some of the people in line that he was hurt. This does not fare well for our already injury ridden team. Also, do me a favor, and when you see Marty, tell him you still heart him even if you don’t. He made me sad. I just want to hug him.

According to Heika, Lundqvist is listed as day-to-day and had his arm in a sling.

After coming off an extremely embarrassing 5-0 loss against the Devils Wednesday, the Stars knew something had to change. The team rallied together, lead by Mike Ribeiro, to get a well deserved win over the New York Islanders. Ribeiro had a career night in more ways than one, his assist on Loui Eriksson’s first 1st period goal was his 300th NHL point. Points 301, 302, 303 and 304 followed. It was also a career high for points in a game.

Loui Eriksson got the scoring started 3:30 into the first with a power play goal from Mike Ribeiro. Then 11 minutes later, Brenden Morrow netted one, Ribeiro getting the primary assist and Robidas getting the second. Loui Eriksson bookended Morrow by getting a goal with a little over a minute and a half left to play in the first period, Ribeiro getting the assist on that goal as well.

But last night wasn’t all about our team getting their scoring back. A little over a minute and a half into the second, Robidas had an unfortunate bump into a Islander and as the entire team went after Robidas, Avery came in to his defense. Both Robidas and Avery took 2 minute penalties, which put the Islanders on a full 2-minute 5-on-3 power play. This was going to be the big test to see if our team had finally picked up where they had left off last season, and they passed it with flying colors. During the penalty kill, Boucher took another penalty, which didn’t start until Robi and Avery’s 2 minutes were up, so that put the Islanders on a full 4 minute power play. The Stars held them off, quite well I might add. The team blocked a lot of shots, and the ones that got through, Marty Turco was there to stop them. Ex-Star Bill Guerin finally got the Islanders are on the board a little over 10 minutes into the period with a goal from Bergenheim and Streit. While Eriksson was getting his skate repaired, Barch stepped into his spot on the Morrow-Ribeiro line, and got the Stars up 4-1, with Morrow and Ribeiro getting the assists. And just 5 minutes later, while on the power play, Ribeiro finally got his first goal of the season and his 5th point of the night with a goal from Modano and Morrow.

Despite their greatest efforts, in the third period Streit and Sim scored to give the Islanders 2 more goals. The Sim goal was especially painful, coming with only 3 seconds left in the game. Overall, it was a well played game. Our top line WAS our top line, everyone sacrificed their bodies to make plays. That is Stars hockey and dear God please let it be here to stay.